Once More Unto the Breach
by Babylon2260
Summary: Faramir visits Pippin in the Shire, offering to have him and Merry accompany him to the ruined city of Annuminas in preparation of rebuilding it for the king. First attempt at LOTR fic. Primarily book-world, but also has a few things from the movies. WIP


Once More Unto the Breach

Chapter 1

Pearl Took swung her staff in graceful, powerful circles over her head. She relished the satisfying whoosh it made as the tip soared in a perfect arch before her field of vision. She swung it in a different direction, and let the tip strike the ground, just a few inches from her right foot. She swung again, and the tip struck the ground on the opposite side. She repeated this movement again and again, creating a beat, as if her form were being done to music. She ran a few paces and thrust her staff into an invisible enemy.

"Ha! Take that!" she crowed. She swung her staff again, parrying away more invisible enemies.

_She was back in Bywater with the rest of Tuckborough's hobbitry. She had armed herself with a spear that she stole off a fallen ruffian. It was much to big for her to handle, but that did not stop her. She blocked an attack that was coming toward her head, and managed to kick her opponent in the crotch. It wasn't a hard kick, but it was enough to double him over. She spun around, blocking another attack from behind in the nick of time. There were two men behind her; one with a club, another with a curved sword. She held up her spear just in time to block the swordsman's attack, but the force of his blow was too hard. Pearl felt her feet slip in the mud, and she fell backwards onto her behind. She held up her spear again to take another attack. The swordsman struck-and his blade became lodged in the wood. Pearl struggled to yank the sword from her attacker's hands, but to no avail. He was stronger than she was. The ruffian with the club tried to swing low at her head, but she dodged it just in time. He swung again, and this time his club met the side of Pearl's head. Fireworks went off all over Pearl's field of vision, and she felt everything else suddenly tilt beneath her. Suddenly, the swordsman straightened, screaming, before collapsing to his knees. Pearl looked up groggily, to see a figure garbed in a black hauberk emblazoned with a white tree pulling his blade from the man's back. The figure then charged forward, swiping the blade in a deadly arc, landing a blow to the clubber's midriff. The man shrieked in pain, clutching his open wound. _

_"Don't you dare waylay my sister, ruffian!" the figure hissed. He turned to Pearl and offered to help her up. Pearl took his hand and got to her feet. She looked into the eyes of her rescuer. _

_"Pippin!" _

_"Pearl." Peregrin Took drew his sister forward and embraced her. _

_"Oh Pippin! Where have you been? I thought you had perished in the Old Forest...!" _

_"Nay, sister," Pippin said. "I'm back." He paused a moment to parry another ruffian's attack. _

_"You're taller!" Pearl exclaimed! "How?" _

_"It's a long story, Pearl," he said. He whirled around, his little sword clanging against another ruffian's dagger. Pearl reached for her spear and thrust it between the man's ribs. _

_Pippin looked a little astonished. "I see your little training sessions with Reyenard paid off," he said. _

_"And where did you learn to fight?" Pearl asked. "You fight almost as well as a man!" _

_"A year's worth of adventure can teach you many things," Pippin said. _

_"Pippin!" a voice shouted. Pearl turned to see her cousin Meriadoc Brandybuck hurrying to join them. He paused for a split second to say "Hiya, Pearl," before he spoke to Pippin. _

_"The Bucklanders have driven them off. We're advancing!" _

_"Good work, Merry. Have your hobbitry meet up with mine at the Bywater Bridge. Frodo ordered us to regroup once we've finished." _

_Frodo? Pearl thought. He's back too? _

_Pearl knew she had a lot of questions, but did not know where to start. She continued to fight alongside her brother until the remaining ruffians had either run off or lay slain. _

Pearl took a moment to catch her breath. It had been five years since the Battle of Bywater. Five years since her brother and cousins returned to the Shire, or at least, what was left of it. She was amazed at how much her little brother had changed, not just in height, but in character as well. He seemed...nobler, more dignified, and more patient. He even carried himself differently; he no longer strutted around the Great Smials acting as if he were the Great Maker's gift to the race of hobbits...he walked with an air of dignity and humility, as if he had seen things that shook the very core of his being, and rebuilt him into this tall, princely hobbit that now resided within the halls of their ancestral home.

Pearl planted one end of her staff in the grassy turf beneath her feet and leaned against it, wiping the sweat from her brow. As she looked up, she saw someone standing a few paces away. It was a man, wearing similar garb as her brother often did; a black tunic with a white tree emblazoned on his front.

"Hello there," he said. "You have some skill with the staff, I see."

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?" she asked. Despite Pippin's assurances that not all humans are bullies and ruffians waiting to exploit the Shire at every opportunity, Pearl still did not trust them. This man, however, exuded an air of nobility and dignity.

"I'm here to see Master Peregrin Took," the man said. "I am a friend of his from Gondor."

Pearl straightened. "You're...Faramir?" she asked. The man nodded. "My brother has been expecting you. Come." Pearl motioned for Faramir to follow her inside. She placed her staff by the door, carefully leaning it against the corner wall. Faramir stooped, almost doubling over, as he stepped into the Great Smials. Pearl led him across the foyer and down a wide corridor.

"So, you're Pippin's sister?" Faramir asked. "May I ask which one?"

"Pearl," the hobbit said. "The eldest of us."

"Ah," Faramir said. "Pippin warned me about you."

Pearl's expression became serious. "What did he say about me?" she asked.

Faramir laughed. "He said, 'watch yer bahck, Farramir. Pearl is more of a soldier than booth of us combained.'"

It was Pearl's turn to laugh. "Your accent is spot-on," she said.

"Is it? I don't know about you, but I've only heard it spoken here, but nowhere else I've been in this Shire."

"You'll only hear it here, among us Tooks," she said. They presently came upon a door at the end of the hallway. Pearl rapped her knuckles against it. The door opened, and Peregrin Took's head appeared from behind it.

"Yes?" Pippin asked.

"It's Faramir," Pearl said. Pippin opened the door a little wider and stepped into the hallway. A huge grin broke across his face.

"Faramir!" he exclaimed. "Welcome to the Great Smials of Tuckborough, old friend!" He ran up to Faramir and embraced him. When they broke away, Pippin promptly dragged Faramir into his study, where he had been busy writing. Faramir asked Pippin what exactly it was that he was working on, and Pippin explained that he was putting together the history of Numenor and the heirs of Elendil. Faramir commented that it was an ambitious task, and offered to help in any way he could.

"I could use all the help I can get," Pippin said. "Merry is already helping me put together a timeline of events from the early Third Age to the present. Though I would like to work on the Second Age as well."

"Our libraries in Gondor would likely be a good help," Faramir said. "I know several scholars and lore-masters have visited them before, searching for answers that lay in the past."

"I'll be sure to pay them a visit on my next journey out there," Pippin said. He sat down behind his desk and offered Faramir a seat in one of the soft, cushy chairs that graced his study. "I have discussed the dedication ceremony with Merry," he said. "He said he will be joining us here in Tuckborough the day after tomorrow. He had some business to take care of in Buckland and had to delay his visit."

"What have you told him?"

"I told him we were to be present at the dedication ceremony when Aragorn arrives. The king intends to have the city rebuilt so that men can live there again. I hear it's supposed to be his summer residence too."

"That is correct," Faramir said. "The king has tasked me to proceed with preparing for his arrival. It is our job-yours, mine, and Merry's-to begin tidying up the premises to make it presentable for the royal family."

This was all sounding very interesting to Pearl. She had heard the stories of the new King of Gondor from Pippin, but always thought they only pertained to faraway lands found only in stories. But here, here in the Great Smials, those stories were becoming real. So is this king really coming here? she thought. This would cause a huge stir in the Shire, with a great king coming here!

Pearl began to notice that the two men were now deeply absorbed in their discussion of restoring this city of Annuminas (wherever that was...with a long name like that it sounded like some remote, exotic place well out of the typical hobbit's reach). She felt like she was eavesdropping, and offered to go get their guest some tea and biscuits from the kitchens. Faramir smiled and said he would like that very much.

"That won't be necessary," Pippin said. He called for one of the Smials' servants, a hobbit lass named Jessmine, and ordered her to fetch some tea and goodies for them. Pearl began to insist that she play the host, but Pippin said, "I want you to listen to this, Pearl. I was thinking, since you have been insistent on accompanying me on my next bit of traveling, that you join the three of us on this mission."

"What?"

Faramir laughed at Pearl's surprised reaction. "Pippin did tell me that you would always beg for father to let you explore around the Northfarthing with the bounders in Long Cleeve, but never had the chance. Annuminas is a good walk north of there, and we thought it would be a good idea to finally let you do it."

"You mean...?" Pearl's expression lit up almost instantly. "I can come to Annuminas with you?"

Faramir nodded. He could tell by the look on her face alone that she had been waiting all her life for an opportunity like this, and was now presented with the chance of a lifetime to travel away from the Shire like her brother and cousins had done.

"Well," Pippin said, "I did that just to get you to shut up," Pippin said, chuckling. Pearl rolled her eyes. He was right. She had been very vocal about going on adventures like her brother ever since he had returned from Gondor. She admitted she was jealous, but could not help it. She was a Took, after all. Tooks were made for adventure!

Pearl grinned. "Well then, I accept! When do we leave?"


End file.
